Shopping Spree
by WhenTomorrowComes
Summary: Matt and Emily went out for what was supposed to be a quick errand...
1. Shopping

The differences in Matt and Emily personalities makes them good partners, good friends, and good lovers. But it is also what got them here. It is why they are standing in the men's section, looking at a row of suits and not moving. It's why they've been standing here by the mirrors for 20 minutes. In 30 minutes they have to be home, showered, dressed, and ready to be picked up by the car that the bureau is sending. Matt had yet to pick a suit, or a tie, for the banquet being held in their honor.

"Matt, you've just got to pick. Seriously. We aren't gonna have enough time to get home, much less showered and dressed before the car gets there"

"Then tell me what you think. The gray suit or the blue one? "

" Matt, that suit is black, not blue. And which tie are you gonna get? Red or green?

"I dunno. Does it really matter?"

"Matt, uggh. Just pick, and then we'll go and we might be able to get to your house before Cheryl and Frank are there to pick us up"

"If you're so worried about, you pick it, hand it to me, and I'll go pay for it. Hey, I'll give you the credit card and you can pay for it. I'll meet you at the car."

"You will not. Tell you what.." Emily started to negotiate, frustrated as she was by Matt's indecision. " I'll pick the tie I like best and then you can choose the suit you want to go with it, deal?

"Yeah, Yeah. Maybe you'll see it's not that easy. "

"**Matt!** It's a suit, they are identical except for the color--it shouldn't be that hard of a choice. "

"Exactly, and I'd be happy to have you make that EASY choice for me. "

"No, no, we made a deal. I'm picking the green tie and you have 2 minutes to make your choice and meet me at the register or I'll call Frank and tell him you can't pick an outfit"

"It's not an outfit, it's a suit!"

"90 seconds or I'm sending in tactical"

"Emily--- I dunno"

" 60 seconds, see you there Matt"

45...30...15...10

"Okay, Okay, I've made up my mind"

"Which one?"

10...9...

"The gray, why? I thought you didn't care"

6...5..

"Really, the gray, huh? This is a fancy party, lots of nice food, important people..."

4...3...

"Emily, if you wanted to choose..."

"No, no, it's fine...your clothes, your choice"

2...1...

Thanks. I actually just bought the black, but I thought I'd keep you on your toes, find out how long you'd let me go without your input."

"I'm just glad that you made the _right_ choice in time for us to get back and get ready. Of course, we might save time if we, uh, _combined_ showers."


	2. Tomorrow

Disclaimer: I do not own Matt, Emily, or any portion of the Standoff show. It would be nice though, if I did. 

AN: I didn't intend for this chapter to get so long, but it is. Enjoy!

After their shower, Matt and Emily rushed around his house trying to get ready. It didn't actually take Matt that long, he mostly just combed his hair and took the tags off of his new clothes. Emily, on the other hand, was frantic.

"Matt, where's your blow dryer?"

"My what?"

"You know, the thing I use to get my hair dry in the mornings. I know you have one!"

" It broke."

"What?? I have 5 minutes, my hair is dripping wet, I haven't finished putting on my make-up or my clothes and NOW you tell me the hair-dryer is broken?"

"I don't use it, I guess I never noticed that you did."

_Okay, Okay, new plan. I'm gonna towel dry my hair, get dressed, finish the make-up, and then I'll see how much time I have left._

As Emily rushed around the house with a towel wrapped around her head, she put on her nylons, then the slip that she'd bought earlier in the day. She didn't normally wear a slip, but her dress was pretty slinky, and a dinner party where both the director and members of the press were expected was not the place to be clinging. Emily pulled her make-up out of Matt's medicine cabinet and began applying it as quickly as she could.

"How much time left until the car gets here?"

"Cheryl called, said they are running a little late. You've got about 10 minutes now."

"Thank you Cheryl" Emily murmured.

"What was that, Em?"

"Nothing, just glad for a few extra minutes to figure out the hair disaster. " Emily looked at her hair. The towel had done its job, taking most of the moisture. The problem was, towel dried, her hair was still wavy, not the stick straight she preferred. What to do. She knew Matt didn't have a straightener and hers hadn't migrated to his bathroom yet. She didn't have any curl-spray, so she could get the tight waves she didn't mind.

Matt came up behind her, looking at her both from behind and from the front, in the mirror.

"You look amazing. How'd you get your hair to do that?"

"Do what, Matt? This is what it looks like naturally. I'm trying to tame the beast. And I'm not dressed yet."

"You know, I don't care if you are dressed. " Matt wrapped his arms around Emily's waist, feeling the silky slip move at his touch. "Leave your hair like that. It looks soft, sexy."

"yes, because clearly the look I should be going for at a PROFESSIONAL dinner is undressed and sexy."

"It would get attention."

"And you'd be ok with that? I show up in my slip and my bedroom hair and you'd be ok with all the looks that I'd get from the other agents. 70 percent of whom are male."

"Yeah, I mean, you're going with me, so they'd all just be jealous."

"I dunno, I mean, what if I got a better offer?" She looked questioningly at her partner.

"A better...Emily!" Matt picked her up, carrying her out of the bathroom and into the bedroom. "I'll show you a better offer"

At precisely that moment, there was a knock on the door. Cheryl, Frank, Lia, Duff, and their ride had arrived. Matt ran to answer the door while Emily grabbed her dress and shoes out of the closet.

She slipped the emerald green, deep v-neck dress over her head, strapped on the shoes, and added a shamrock necklace that Matt had give her a few weeks back. Glancing in the mirror in the way to the door, she took in the overall look. She hated to admit it, but the waves around her face did look good and the color of the dress was perfect. It matched the Irish symbol Matt had given her, and the tie she'd picked out for him earlier in the day.

Meeting Matt at the door, the two walked towards the car, his hand on the small of her back. They slid into the limo, taking their seats facing Duff and Lia.

The driver shut the door and climbed back in, ready to leave Matt's house and head towards the party.

Emily leaned close to Matt, whispering in his ear "You ready to show 'em what we've got?

"You know it. Though, next time, I'm going shopping with you to find a dress."

"You don't like it, what's wrong?" Emily looked at Matt, her heart sinking a little.

"Oh no, I like it. I'm sure _everyone_ will like it. " She looked at Matt again, noticing the way he was sending glares at Frank and Duff, neither of whom were paying much attention.

"I only care if you like it. You know that, right?"

"I love the color, the tie makes more sense now. "

"Thanks." She snuggled in closer to him, wanting to be comfortable and wanting him to know that she'd picked the dress for him. As she did so, the shamrock necklace swung, landing against his chest. Matt looked up, surprised, and noticed it's green color against his dark suit jacket. He smiled and turned to Emily again.

"It's perfect. All of it." He whispered gently to Emily, watching her light up with the compliment.

They locked themselves together, enjoying the relative calm of the ride and the chance to be together, with the their friends.

"Hey Matt?"

"Yeah, Em"

"Tomorrow, we're getting a new hair-dryer, first thing"


	3. Over Water

Getting out of the limo, Matt, Emily, Cheryl, Frank, Duff, and Lia gasped. None of them had spent much time at the port, but it looked a lot different than the day of the incident. There were white Christmas lights strung along the sides of the largest yachts and the cruise ships had all been decked out for the occasion. Men in tuxedos greeted the group as they headed toward the party.

"This is amazing" Emily whispered as the boarded the boat that had been rented for the occasion. She looked around at all of the other agents in the room, impressed. People had gathered in groups, as they did at work, but now everyone was dressed up, and she barely recognized some of the people that she saw all the time."

" Let's go get a drink" Duff whined to Lia, pulling her across the room to the open bar.

"We'll find the table" Matt practically shouted, grabbing Emily's arm when he noticed that her jaw was still hanging open.

"I guess that leaves us to schmooze" Frank sighed as he and Cheryl headed towards a group to their left that included the mayor, the cruise ship captain, and several others.

"Come on, I think it might be in this quiet, secluded corner over here" Once Matt had gotten Emily out of her trance and away from the crowds, he had "checked" for the table in several locations. Emily wasn't sure they were going to find the table in the coat closet, the stairway, or behind the trays of cheesecake, but she wasn't complaining.

"I REALLY love this dress" Matt exhaled slowly when he finally broke away from her neck, which he had been kissing thoroughly.

"Mmm, I'm glad that you like it so much." Emily could barely speak, but she didn't want to pull any further away from him to catch her breath.

"You know, if we had the limo driver take us home now, he'd be back in time to get Cheryl and everyone. They won't even notice that we're gone." Matt played with the left strap on her dress, moving it to kiss the freckles on the shoulder underneath.

"I'd love to..." Emily started and Matt grinned " but someone will notice something when they introduce us, tell the story, and then we don't go up to get our award."

"So we'll turn off the phones and the lights when they come looking for us." Matt really loved the dress, and as he played with the necklace that he'd given her, he couldn't imagine sitting through a two-hour dinner and then another two-hour ceremony with her next to him. By dessert he'd be pulling her onto his lap and by the end of the ceremony he'd want to be underneath the table or back in this closet.

"Matt!" Emily swatted playfully at his arm. " This is important. It is a big deal that we are even invited to something like this. If we leave, then Cheryl's going to have to explain,which means we will have to explain to her on Monday. I do not want to tell my boss that I missed an event because YOU were horny and couldn't leave me alone."

"Oh come on, you know you want to leave too!" Matt was whining now, unhappy that Emily wasn't going to let them go back to his house yet.

"Of course I do, but I know better. And you know better too!" With that, Emily straightened her dress, walked away and went to find their actual table, hopeful that she could get there before Cheryl and Frank realized that they'd slipped out of room. _I can always say I was in the restroom_ Emily muttered to herself as she opened the heavy double doors and took a deep breath. She exhaled and as the room came in to view, she noticed that Frank and Cheryl were engrossed in a conversation with a dull-looking group, not even glancing towards her. She felt Matt come up behind her, put a hand on the small of her back, and lead her in to the room.

Emily and Matt sat through the mediocre rubber-chicken dinner, exchanging glances and playing footsie under the table. They were sure that the other people could tell, but so far the only sign of anyone noticing their game was Lia, grinning in excitement.

Ladies and Gentleman, in just a few moments, we will begin the awards portion of this evening. Please refill your drinks and be seated in the next five minutes."

"I know I'm going to need at least one drink for this." Frank exclaimed. Duff, Lia, and and Cheryl got up with him to refill their glasses as well.

"Emily, bathroom break? We've got 4 more minutes?" Matt was speaking in such a low voice that it took Emily a moment to register what he was saying.

"Promise that we'll be back in time for the start of the ceremony?" Matt could tell that Emily was debating it in her mind, teetering towards having a few minutes of fun.

"Guarantee, they'll flash the lights and we'll be there."

"OK, closet by the restrooms. 3 minutes. " Matt got up and walked out the door, discreetly followed by Emily.  
They got as far as the restrooms, where Lia and Cheryl were standing, holding their new drinks, and talking.

"Matt, Emily, hey guys!" Lia waved them over and they had no choice but to go.

"I was a little worried about you two, bureau event, hidden relationship and all. " Cheryl was chattering, glad that no other agents had noticed how close the two negotiators really were. " but you are doing an excellent job." Matt and Emily listened to Cheryl, but watched each other. "And to think, I was nervous about finding you two hiding in some closet, making out when you were supposed to be getting your award." Their eyes widened simultaneously, and Matt's lips turned up into a little smirk.

The lights flashed overhead, and the foursome headed back inside, ready for the ceremony to start.

_Next break? _Emily wrote on her drink napkin, pushing it slowly over to Matt

S_taircase, back side of kitchen_ Matt wrote back and they pushed their chairs together for the long ceremony. 


End file.
